Gay Friday
Because we separate, it ripples our reflections...
Aaaahhhhhh yes.....
Those lovely fluffy bunnies that we call Radiohead , have caused a bit of a muffin fuss recently. Their new album, "In Rainbows" is not available in the shops (shocker..) but you can download it from their website, and, here's the "controversial" bit - you can either download it for nish, or, if you'd prefer , actually pay for their talents to gently cusp your ear genitals. (if you get my meaning?)
As my long suffering girlfriend will testify, I...fucking love... Radiohead. I'm not a complete cunt about it, but I really think they are my generation's Pink Floyd (Okay, okay, throw stones if you have to, but I don't really give a fuck!)
She will often look at me, and roll here eyes as I gaze off into some distant void, mouthing the words to "Let Down", "Exit Music(for a film)" or maybe "Nice Dream" like some sort of Gay....
I've read a couple of reviews:
Which all bang on endlessly, but y'know what, they all say the same thing to one degree or another, which is that "In Rainbows" is pretty, pretty, pretty good. And I have to agree.
It really isn't "The Bends" or "OK Computer" or even "Amnesiac" or "Hail to the Thief" but it has some of the stronger points of all of those albums, with some really, achingly beautiful moments, all of its own. I'm not going to go into anymore detail than that (but Reckoner is a fucking great tune...)
Here endeth the lesson.
Amen
Too many guys think I'm a concept, or I complete them, or I'm gonna make them alive.
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
is, purely and simply... heartbreaking.
With a script by Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) and direction from Michel Gondry (later to make the excellent, if slightly incomplete Science of Sleep) you are getting a lot of film for your money.
Brilliantly written, perfect dialogue (I would actually say painful, haunting and passionate dialogue) incredibly creative direction, this is one of those Science Fiction/Love Story/Comedy type things that come along once in a while, right(?). Well, actually, no...
Fair enough, it is difficult to put this into a genre, but, that just makes me like this film all the more.
I'm struggling here to give this it fair criticism, without weeping into a week old tissue. OK, it's far from perfect, and if you don't like Jim Carrey, or Kate Winselt, then you are a bit buggered, but hell, they are both flawless in their roles.
For an absolutely brilliant synopsis of what they hell this is all about, you'd do worse to look here.
but in a brief style, here's what you need to know about the story:
"A couple undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories when their relationship turns sour, but it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with"
It won the Oscar for best original screenplay, and Kate Winslet was nominated for best performance by an actress in a leading role. (Which is nice)
Now, excuse me while I go a big wobbly one and die of dehydration from all tears I've shed... you have been warned.
"D'oh!"
apparantly, this is what I'd look like, if I were a character on The Simpsons. you can have a go here
Bansky!
If you don't know who Banksy is then you're either a bit of a twat, or you've been trapped under something heavy for about a decade, and therefore haven't looked out of your window for a little bit. there's some new stuff on his website. Check it
There's also a book. Which is nice.
I was a little bit bored today
So, to fill the time, I copied this
...absolute genius
"Money won is twice as sweet as money earned"
2) The Color of Money (1986)
Backing up a bit here...... in, err.... 1959, an author by the name of Walter Tevis wrote a book called "The Hustler". It was a big hit, and just under two years later became the film that put Paul Newman back on the map, as the cool pool shark, "Fast" Eddie Felson.
faaaaast forward just around 30 years, and some smart Alec thought it would be a great idea to make the sequel to "The Hustler", called: "The Color of Money" into a film. Clever little shit...
But.... they asked themselves, who could possibly play the cocky, rough diamond to Newmans uber cool, shady but learned elder? Who, huh? Who Damn it!.
The question must have been one of the toughest on the table. I mean, you've got Newman, who's practically royalty by this time, but hadn't really had a hot film since Slap Shot in 1977 (and even then we're not talking about a block buster). The last thing they wanted is for someone to upstage his highness....
But on closer inspection, to a large degree, the Book is about exactly this. Younger generations looking bemused at the older generation of hustlers "code of the game".
someone must have been given a really rather large bonus when "Tom Cruise" agreed to sign on the line that is dotted:
The Cruiser had been, well.... err, "cruising" along really rather quite well. 1983, already in the can was "The Outsiders", and also in '83 were "Risky Business" & "All The Right Moves". Then came the film that pretty much sold a zillion pairs or RayBan's (I bought a pair too) "Top Gun".
OK, we'll save all the discussion about Mr C for another time. Suffice to say that he was about a B.I.G as you could be at the tender age of 12 years old (or whatever, he looks about 12 in the poster)
And so to the film:
So what we got?.
- Have we got two ego's big enough to fill the roles, and therefore fill cinema seats?. Check.
- Have we got a massively influential Director, much praised and respect for his ability to raise the bar in modern Cinematic terms, not to mention summing up the word "zeitgeist"?. Check. (Scorsese, you dummies...)
- What about a script. Check! (Richard Price, later to write Sea of Love....)
Well fuck me silly, we've got ourselves a movie!.... go go go go.
And now see, here's the thing: this film sort of didn't do quite as well as everyone expected. What!. Why?...
Looking back at the hype prior to release you can see why people might have been disappointed. Cruise, whilst really, really good in this film, just doesn't prepare the audience to not like him too much. Newman, on the other hand is smooth, smouldering and extremely fucking cool. I don't think anyone was really ready for his character to be so... complete. Newman had come from another time, to show Cruise how it's done. The ending might even have seemed unsatisfactory, leaving many story threads unresloved. Just like life does, sometimes
If you're going to read on good review of the time (good, as in well written) go here
Now, in 2007, I suggest this is one of the purest films of the 1980's. Scorsese here is a man at the top of his game. Not showing off using circus tricks in his filming, editing, cut scenes. The script is honest, sassy, and almost entirely believable. The soundtrack is really good, and there's not a hint of the saccharine taste that so many films of the time left in your mouth.
you only have to look at how both actors progressed through the late 1980's and into the 1990's. Both of whom still appearing in influential films to this day. OK, "The Color of Money" may not of been a box office hit. It may not be either star's best work (or the Directors...) but it is brave, honest, gritty and above all entertaining. if you have already, I strongly suggest you watch this movie.
"We were always small time, but we were never clowns"
People often laugh about the popular movies of the 1980's. And, to be fair, there are some good reasons too. What then, seemed like honest to goodness story telling, or a fantastically new idea, or just plain family values, now, can seem, saccharine, plodding, manipulative rubbish. And don't even mention the clothes.
but, amongst the, err... well... shit, there were also some really, really, really good films. I'm not going to attempt to list a zillion 1980's beauties , that would be really fucking boring, but I am going to attempt a list of of about five you've probably forgotten to remember:
So, to start us off, is this little gem:
1) The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)
A very brief synopsis:
Brothers, Jack and Frank Baker, have been playing lounges as a piano duo for over 30 years. But things are changing, the world is not so interested in their idea of “entertainment” anymore, in fact, they’re getting paid to not play. Frank decides they need a female vocalist to keep the act going. During auditions the come across Suzie Diamond, who can really put a song over, and the act takes off. But when relations between Suzie and Jack, the younger, less committed, and more talented brother, briefly becomes more than professional, tensions surface between all three
OK... You got Director, Steve Kloves , (who's now more well known now for the Harry Potter Franhcise) and, doesn't hang about drawing us into what is a memorable, atmospheric city of the never ending night. And immediately we're given visual nods to the two main character's traits(played by real life brothers Jeff & Beau Bridges). Frank, uptight, practical, and a little self righteous, Jack, laid back, cynical, never without a cigarette. (Jeff Bridges is effortlessly cool in this film)
This could be considered a subtle deconstruction of men lost in a time that has passed. These guys live in a netherworld that few can say still exists. And there is just enough cheese, chintz and cocktail umbrellas to remind us that the time they've come from has passed for a good reason.
But there's no rush, no hurry to tell this tale.. just like the nigth clubs and lounge bars it so beautifully reconstructs, the film itself understands that the night can crawl along at a slow pace, ebbing it's way through a scotch, a cigarette and a rendition of "feelings"
Oh, and I haven't even got to the best bit yet. It's got Michelle Pfeiffer playing Suzie Diamond, they're acid tonged, femme fatale saviour. You may say to yourself right now "oh yeah, now, where do I know here from", Dangerous Liaisons, & Witches of East Wick came before, sure... but everyone remembers Ms Pfeiffer for this reason:
If you haven't see this film, or are wondeing if it might look remotely 1980's trying to look like the 1950's it so wonderfully alludes to, don't worry. It doesn't.
What this film has in spades is pure, unadulterated, class, not to mention a script that will have you wryly smiling, as well as feeling slightly hot under the collar looking at the sublime Ms Pfieffer (and that 'aint a word I use too often). There is just no way that you cannot enjoy this story unfolding.
and underneath it all, the story has so many facets that just keep you coming back time after time. It's about Brothers, Family, bonds that cannot be broken, and dream that often are.
I dare you not to lbe moved by this movie.....
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